Between Us
by suchitis
Summary: A series on missing moments/drabbles on Jackson and April
1. A Great Teacher

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or the characters mentioned. **

"So Shane was with you for lumps and bumps day right?"

April looked up from the chart of the tumor patient who had come in that morning. Jackson was leaning across the desk looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Uh," April said slightly flustered under his gaze "Yeah, yes. He was helping me out."

"You know that the reason he got chosen to scrub in on Derek's surgery was because he was the only one who treated Derek like a patient and not just a case?"

April looked up surprised. Shane had told her that she had helped him, but never told her how exactly.

"Yeah," said Jackson leaning back, "You're pretty much the only surgeon here that can see the whole patient and not only their disease. You taught Shane an important lesson today and that makes you a great teacher April."

"Yeah, well- you know," stammered April looking back down at the chart, "I was only helping the patients feel safe and comfortable, It really wasn't that big-"

"It is a big deal," he cut her off, "It's the big deal because you're teaching them lessons that most of us forget to teach until we have that one patient who needs extra care and reassurance. You should be proud of yourself."

April could feel heat spread up her face. No one had ever complimented her on her teaching. Jackson had. But then no one had congratulated her when she got chief resident except Jackson either. He was really her best friend. She looked up at him and grinned brightly.

"Thank you Jackson."

"No problem," he said straightening up, "You deserve it. I've got to check up on my patient now. I'll talk to you later alright?"

Giving her one last smile he left. April continued smiling as she read through her chart thinking about how great her friendship with Jackson was and how he was always there for her. Even when she had killed a patient, or when he was dating Lexie, or when she failed her boards. He was always there. Looking up, she sighed. She was glad that somethings never changed.

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**A/N: So this is basically where I let out all my Japril feels. This is the first story I'm publishing on , but you can find other stories (that will be posted here with time) on my ao3 account under the same username.**

**Please leave a review, it would really make my day**


	2. Cameras and Memories

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Shonda Rhimes does. And I am not she.**

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"Jackson stop laughing"

"Hahahaha!"

"Come on! You can't be serious!"

"I- ha- just can't- stop! You won't-haha- understand"

"You're giggling like a little girl."

…

"And me saying that has absolutely no effect on you."

"I just, it's the camera. Remember when they came to shoot that ad film for the hospital."

"Uh huh"

"I was fired because I couldn't stop laughing at the camera."

"I was fired because you were prettier than me."

"Well I am an Avery."

"Oh be quiet!"

"You like you're married to all this."

"You know I would like our children to watch this and see their father as more than a man who has camera shyness and is completely and utterly vain."

"Children?"

"I say all that and 'children' is all you get?"

"You know April, kids don't come out of thin air. They have to be made."

"I know that I'm a doctor."

"So do you wanna practice making some?"

"Are you saying this so that I shut off the camera?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

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**A/N: So, Jackson is actually canonically camera shy. Check out the webisodes of Grey's, I think Jackson's it the 4th one! Please leave a review!**


	3. Lies

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Jackson and April, but I don't. **

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"April?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to tell you something." April looked up from the tablet she was checking off patients on. She had recently got glasses because she didn't want to wear her contacts when she wasn't attending to patients. She looked hotter than usual as she put the tablet aside and waited for him to speak.

"I lied to you." A look of confusion crossed across her face.

"About what?" she asked curiously.

"Remember when your sisters had come to meet you," he asked, "You know, before your- other- wedding?"

"Yeah…" she said slowly, wondering where this was going.

"And the guy who came in? Who… Ma-Matthew trached?"

"Yes, I do."

"When we were in surgery, I told you that it was an easy fix."

"Mhm."

"I lied. I spent the next eight hours fixing the man's throat."

"Okay…"

"And Matthew, he came to me later. After I got out. And I told him that he made a mistake. I told him that I lied to you."

"Why are you telling me this Jackson?" April asked with a sigh, taking off her glasses.

"Because," he started looking down at his sneakers, "Just so you know, because even though I did what I thought was right, I did lie. To make Matthew look good."

"You know something?" she asked.

"What?"

"I knew you were lying."

"What?"

"I'm a trauma surgeon Jackson. And I know how long it takes to fix a throat trached that way."

"Oh."

"And I also know you were in the OR the whole day because your other plastic attending had to take over your burn cases for the rest of the day."

"Right."

"So it's ok."

"Good."

Silence.

"You only told me that so you could show me how you're better than Matthew right?"

"Maybe." A smile tugged at the corners of April's face.

"Let's go home. I want to make us some lasagna."

"You know I love you April?"

"I know. And I love you back."

"Great."

"Let's go home."

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**A/N: Please leave a review if you liked this chapter!**


	4. I'm a Swan

**Disclaimer: Same as always.**

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"I think that I just witnessed the cooled thing ever!"

Jackson smirked as he laid down on the bed in the on-call room, "And what was that?"

"I just got back from Kepner's wedding shower, and she just fired her sisters from being her bridesmaids and took Robbins, Yang and Grey instead!"

"What?" asked Jackson with his eyebrows furrowed as he started to sit back up, "Why would she do that?"

"Well," said Stephanie sitting down at the corner of the bed, taking off her shoes, "Her sisters were calling her 'Ducky' and she said that she's not an ugly duckling but a swan. 'I'm a swan' those were her exact words."

Jackson smiled internally at the thought of April standing up to her sisters. He was proud of her.

"Anyway," continued Stephanie, "Then she said that she was a kick-ass surgeon and had had sex before. Shocked her sisters completely!"

"Wait what?" Jackson looked at Stephanie shocked. "She told them that she wasn't a virgin anymore?"

"Yeah, I suppose," she looked nonchalant as she climbed into bed with him, "It was pretty dramatic really. I can't imagine what her sisters feel like. Hey! Why weren't you there?"

"Was busy," he mumbled, "Let's sleep, I have two hours before my board meeting."

"Mhm."

Jackson's thoughts went back to what he had just heard. With every passing day he felt like this marriage was the wrong move for April, but because he had no right to say anything to her,so he kept quiet. Feeling Stephanie curled next to him, he realized that April had never just slept with him. Why did the feeling in his chest feel a lot like regret? Why was he thinking about April in the first place? He let out a breath and closed his eyes, trying to think about the board meeting he had to attend.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


	5. Babe

**Disclaimer: Same as always**

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They slipped out of the on call room and April nervously flattened her hair when she suddenly remembered something.

"You called me babe."

"What?"

"You called me babe," April repeated, "When we were in the conference room with your mother."

"Yeah," Jackson leaned in towards her, "Is that a problem? Do you not want me to call you that?"

"No," April replied, "I just never realized that I could be the girl who has someone call her babe."

"I could call you a lot of other things too." Jackson whispered in her ear, grinning.

"It's been over two months since we got married, and still when you talk like I just want to pull you back into the on-call room."

"I wouldn't mind, except now we have to deal with my mother. Maybe tonight?"

"After Dr. Webber's party?"

"Yes, it'll be the first time I can get to take you out in front of our colleagues as my wife."

He had a smirk on his face and April laughed as they walked back to face Catherine Avery. Marrying Jackson was worth all the hate she got for it.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it! R&amp;R :)**


	6. Dreams

**April dreams about Jackson the night before her wedding.**

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"JACKSON!"

April thrashed around in her bed, imagining Matthew's arms around her. Stopping her from saving her best friend.

"JACKSON!"

April gasped and sat up in her bed, breathing heavily through her mouth. Seeing that she was in her room, she closed her eyes, put her head in her hands, drawed her knees to her chest, and rocked back and forth trying to calm herself. But her mind was in shambles. That was the single most terrifying moment of her life. Scarier than having a gun pointed at her head, more than finding herself in a pool of her best friend's blood or even seeing her mentor being shot in front of her own eyes. Maybe what she said to him afterwards was in the spur of the moment, but after nights of thinking and comparing she had decided that watching that bus explode was the scariest moment of her life. When she felt Matthew's arms around her, she had never felt hatred like that. She hated him for stopping her. She should have been there, in the fire with Jackson. She didn't have too many nightmares. She really didn't. But it was the night before her wedding day and she was dreaming about her best friend almost dying. She thanked God that her sisters had moved into a hotel after she fired them as her bridesmaids. She couldn't deal with them asking their annoying questions.

Jesus why are you doing this? she asked in her mind looking up out of her window into the dark night. Wasn't Matthew her second chance at doing the right thing? Then why was dreaming about her friend Jackson?

It must be because of the stress of the wedding, whenever people stress out their mind goes back to the worst memories. That was the reason she was dreaming about that bus, said the doctor in her. After taking a few deep breaths she looked at her phone's wallpaper. It was a picture of Matthew and her, right after he had proposed. There was a feeling of uneasiness in her heart. It can't be about Matthew and the marriage, she argued. Then what?… Jackson. It was always came back to him. The reason she had this weight on her heart was because her best friend of seven years wasn't going to be at her wedding. He wouldn't be there to support her through as he had through everything. Their intern year, the merger, the shooting, their boards, the plane crash, her boards again. And if he weren't there tomorrow she would feel incomplete, because she couldn't take this step without him. Yes, that's the reason. Shaking her head she lay back down slowly trying to go back to sleep.

What she didn't realize until later was that she couldn't have taking that step with anyone but Jackson.

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**A/N: Please leave a review!**


	7. Personal and Professional Opinions

**Nudity ahead, you have been warned!**

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"Babe, what are you doing?"

April quickly put her bathrobe back on and tied the front up firmly over her belly. Jackson was standing in the doorway behind her and was looking at her through the mirror. She ntoiced the laugh on his face and scowled, turning towards him.

"Get out," she said with her hands on her hips.

"Why?"

"Because I need to get dressed."

"You can change in front of me."

"I don't want to. Obviously you don't like what you see so get out."

Jackson paused. "Where did you get the idea that I don't like seeing you naked?"

April turned back away from him and said, "I know I've grown fatter and my breasts are getting strech marks and I look awful. But you know what? I'm pregnant! I'm allowed to look like this! So stop comparing me to those models you give boob jobs to!"

"I don't comp-" Jackson started before realizing that April was probably upset about something and her hormones just exaggerated the emotion.

"Well, you spend all day looking at and touching those perfect breasts. Hell you make them! And then you have to come home to your pregnant wife, of course you're bound to be resentful!"

Jackson reached to her and took her slightly swollen hands in his large ones. When she showed no resistance he led her to their mirror and slowly opened her bathrobe. April closed her eyes, refusing to look at her reflection.

"Open your eyes." April shook her head furiously.

"April, darling, open your eyes."

She let the warmth of this breath wash over her and nodded slowly before opening her eyes. Instead of looking at herself, it was, what only could be described as intense love, in her husband's eyes that caught her attention.

He wrapped her arms around her stomach and pressed the side of his head against hers.

"I love you, every inch of you." He caressed her bump with a smile. "To me you'll always be the one. You and the little one in here."

"As for your breasts," one hand left her stomach to lightly cup her left breast.

"They are perfect, and that is my personal and professional opinion." He grinned at her in that boyish way that made her belly flop.

He slowly brought his lips to her neck, kissing while his thumb ran lightly across her nipples. A small moan escaped her lips and she pushed herself back against him.

He muttered against her neck, "What you do to me no one else can." He lifted his head and captured her lips in hers. He lead them to the bed behind them, not caring that that April had just done the bed, or that they were going to be late for work again, and showed her just how much perfect he thought she was.

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**A/N: This is the first time I've written anything even mildly smutty, so tell me how I've done!**


	8. Me and You

**After 10x15 when Jackson comes home and tells April about his day.**

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April was lying on their bed, drinking camomile tea reading a medical journal when Jackson came into the bedroom freshly showered. She looked up and smiled at him, throwing the cover off on the side next to her. This was what Jackson liked best about them. The fact that they could communicate without words. It gave him hope, because this was what love was supposed to be.

He slowly sat down and started drawing circles at the back of April's hand. Without him having to say it April knew what was up.

"Did you meet Stephanie in HR?" she asked quietly.

He looked up at her and nodded. "I said that I'm sorry, but she just said she's moving on. Which is good, the best I could expect really."

After a moment of silence he continued, "She said that I got a story to tell my grandchildren. And that she got looks of pity. You know what's the worst part April? We did get a story. We did get a freaking story at the expense of hurting two people who didn't deserve to be hurt that way."

April was now rubbing circles at the back of his hand. She kept silent and waited for him to finish.

"April will we have to live with this guilt forever? The guilt of hurting two people because of our selfishness?"

April looked up at him and said, "I had the same fears you did. I kept thinking about how we could start a life on the foundation of curses we would get from those who were hurt.

"We humiliated them Jackson. You brought Stephanie at a wedding only to leave her for the bride. I left Matthew at the altar in front of all of his family and friends. I couldn't understand how we could start a life by hurting so many people."

She grasped his hand in both of hers and looked at him with bright eyes. "But then you said you wanted the whole damn thing. And I knew that no matter what, we did the right thing. Because we saved ourselves and Stephanie and Matthew a lot of pain in the long run. Can you imagine me living my entire life with you being my greatest 'what if'? I would have freaked out because it was always you Jackson. Being with you was like breathing because you took all my craziness and defended me and stood up for me. Being away from you was the worst time of my life. We could never have just stayed friends. You know it just as well as I do.

"And years from now when Stephanie finds someone perfect for her and when Matthew marries someone who loves him the way he deserves to be loved the pain will go away. Because when they find someone to love they'll know that what happened was for the best. Even if the way it happened wasn't."

Jackson looked at his wife and knew he was right to follow Mark's advice.

"You're right. We were meant to happen. Notice how I was the one spinning out of control and you calmed me down? That has to be a sign."

"It is. It was always Me and You."

"Me and You."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


	9. What was your life like?

**The night after 10x16 when Jackson and April tell each other about their childhoods.**

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"April?" Jackson opened the door to their bathroom and saw April was brushing her teeth. She looked up at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Mmmh?" She spit into the washbasin and grabbed a towel to wash her face.

"What is it?" she asked, even though she knew it had to do with the conversation they just had with his mother, the conversation about how they were going to raise their kids and deal with the pressures of handling a multi millions dollar business. Jackson leaned against the doorway as April walked towards him. He slipped his hand around her waist and leaned down to kiss her slowly. He pressed his head against hers and inhaled the scent surrounding her. It was the smell of peppermint toothpaste, the hospital, the wine they drank at Richard's birthday and her perfume.

"April, I want to know you." That was not the statement she was expecting so she looked up at him confused, "You do know me Jackson. If this has something to do with my religion, I'm telling you-"

"No," Jackson interrupted, "This isn't about your religion, or our future children. I want to know who you were before I met you. I want to know about your childhood, your school, college, med school. You're favorite pets, hobbies, heck, even your co-curricular activities. I want to know my wife, before she became my wife." His fingers lightly traced the outline of her cheek and she grasped the other. They were trying, they were moving into the next step of their relationship. April smiled to herself.

"Okay, but only one condition," said April. "You have to tell me about yours, and everything about the Foundation. How it runs and how, all the projects. Everything." Jackson nodded and they moved into their bed and turned off all the lights except the one above their heads.

"Oh, and also the number of a lawyer to consult about this post-nuptial. Because I don't know what the hell I'm doing here." She grinned at him and he chuckled. He pulled her closer to him and listened to her story. Laughed when she told him about the time she got dragged around in the mud when she was nine because a pig got loose. Held her tight when she told him about how her first dog died. He shook his head when she told him that the only boy who asked her to prom did so on a dare and felt proud of her when she told him how she got into medical school.

On her part April tried her best to understand the workings of the complex institution Jackson was to head. She realized that the work the Foundation did was truly life changing and she was proud to be, even though only by marriage, associated with that change. She understood how he grew up in a boarding school and had to learn to be independent very early on. She learnt that he actually didn't mind the board meetings at fifteen because they always had good food after. She appreciated the work he put into becoming a doctor when his grandfather told him that he should stop attending those meetings after he nearly failed his first semester at Columbia. She learnt that unlike Meredith, the pressures of his name were far more and he didn't mind them. Until he found out that he got an easy ride because of it. She laughed with him at stories at how he and his friends would torture their warden by unwiring the morning bell every night, and by leaving the doors to the horses' stables open after he had just closed them. She got how important it was for him that his children took part in their family legacy.

What they both learnt was that they were very different. They had very different upbringings and that they differed on the small things that made a life because of that. They learnt that they became doctors to make their families proud of them, to prove something. To save lives. They knew that their respect for each other grew after that night. Neither of them had thought about the consequences of getting married the way they did. They just knew had to be together. And when they were done with their stories they knew with time they would figure everything out with time. Together.

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**A/N: Please leave a review!**


	10. Why Did You Become a Doctor?

"Doctor Kepner, why did you become a doctor?"

April looked down at the intern standing next to her from the board she was checking to see patients' statuses.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, because," said the intern whose name was Julie, "Every doctor I knew discouraged me from becoming one. They said that I would have to put my life on hold because you have to put your entire heart and soul into the job. And if you don't do that you aren't a good doctor."

"That's true, Julie," replied April simply.

"And you were okay with that?" The intern pressed.

"Becoming a doctor is like becoming a glorified social worker," April told her, moving to check if any of the patients were ready to be discharged.

"We give our lives and souls to our patients and in the process we can sometimes forgot about ourselves." She pulled out a stethoscope and checked on a patient, telling them that they were ready to be discharged.

Walking to the next patient she said, "And it's true that most doctors get married and have children, if at all, later in life. But it's not that bad. Look at me and Doctor Avery."

"But you two are in love!" The intern argued, "what are the chances that I'll find someone with this crazy schedule."

"It is true that doctors usually end up marrying doctors because they're the only people they meet," she said calmly as she moved on to tell a patient that they'll have to have surgery to remove their gall stones, "that doesn't mean that we have to be involved with our co-workers. The reason you don't have time is because you're an intern. Things will slow down as you become a resident and then an attending."

"And Doctor Avery and I weren't always in love." She added, "we were acquaintances for a long time, then awkward friends, then best friends, roommates, and after all that we got married."

"If you don't mind me asking Doctor, how long have you been married?" asked the intern hesitantly, afraid that her superior would get angry at the personal nature of the question.

"Nearly seven years now," replied April with a smile as she put the electronic chart back in its stand.

"We got married when we here about thirty, and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way. We needed the time to get to know each other."

The intern looked at her shoes thoughtfully.

"Do you think that I have hope to actually have a life within all this chaos?" she asked waving around the busy ER.

"Yes, I actually do." April had seen Julie with a third year resident named Adam and knew that they would get together at some point.

"I do too." April looked at the source of the voice behind her and saw Jackson leaning over the nurses desk at them.

"Oh, Doctor Avery," Julie blushed, as all female interns did around her husband, "I was just talking to Doctor Kepner about life as a surgeon." Looking up at her seniors and back down very quickly, she stammered, "I'll go book an OR for that patient with gall stones. Excuse me."

April nodded, and looked at Jackson. "How much of that did you hear?"

"The part where you said that we weren't always in love," he leaned toward so her with a small smirk on his face, "Though I'd say that we were. Remember when we met at the intern party and we were them only sober people?"

April smiled at the memory. "Yeah, you said 'Looks like it's only me and you'."

"Me and you April," he kissed her cheek before saying, "I have a consult for a rhinoplasty and then I have to pick Nia from ballet, see you at home?"

April nodded and couldn't help but smile at the retreating back of her husband.

"Doctor we have an incoming trauma, car crash, five victims- all in bad shape."

April nodded at the nurse and went to get her gown and shouted at her interns to get their game together. Thus, began the game of playing doctor.

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**A/N: Not a lot of Japril I know, but I've always wanted to write a piece explaining why April would choose to be a surgeon or continue being a surgeon even with the crazy schedules. Leave a review to tell me what you think!**


	11. Lazy Sundays

**Just something random that popped into my head on Sunday :P**

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April was folding clothes one lazy Sunday afternoon when luckily (or maybe it really wasn't 'luck') both her and Jackson had the day off. Cleaning the house was extremely therapeutic for April. Seeing things go from extremely chaotic to organized gave her indescribably peace. It also didn't require much brain power, something she was thankful for because as a surgeon she had to be on top of her game at all times. And as a trauma surgeon nothing was ever "standard procedure". She had Mozart playing in the background as she worked because she had read it was soothing for the baby. It happened to be true for her because the baby kicked a lot less when there was classical music playing.

Jackson was sitting on the other side of the sofa with a basket of clean smelling clothes between them. Suddenly he started chuckling. April looked up from the t-shirt she was folding, slightly amused because Jackson wasn't the type of person to just start laughing for no reason.

"What's so funny?" she asked, putting the t-shirt in the pile in front of her.

"I was just thinking, if someone had told me on the first day of our internship that I would fall in love with the brunette with the red notebook so hard that I would actually ruin her wedding I probably would have laughed in their face. Just comes to show how far we've come. We were barely acquaintances for the first two years of our residency, and now we have a baby on the way!" The wide grin on his face made April feel warm down to her toes.

"Yeah, well if someone told me that I would become best friends with the tall, dark and handsome son of Catherine Avery and then proceed to lose my virginity to him, before marriage, I would have probably screamed at them for saying something so ridiculous. Me having pre-marital sex? That was never going to happen. And plus, you were the good looking one and I was the uptight one. We would never have worked out."

"It's funny how it did work out in the end though," Jackson smiled. "Oh, and I was thinking about Kiara if it's a girl?"

"Kiara Avery," April tasted the name on her tongue and decided that if their daughter looked anything like her husband it would be a perfect name. "I like it! But it sounds kind of familiar… where is it from?"

"Oh," Jackson suddenly looked down to the shorts he was picking up from the basket, "I'm not sure, I just heard it somewhere."

"No…" April said slowly. "Is it from Lion King?"

"What? No!" Jackson scoffed, still avoiding eye contact. "Why would I name our daughter after a Disney cartoon?"

"Because Lion King is your favorite cartoon film, and well Nala Avery just sounds ridiculous," April laughed.

"Yeah well," Jackson said with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "It was a great film. And Kiara's story is one of two people ("lions", whispered April) who loved each other so much that they could bring opposing forces together. Kind of reminded me of us you know."

"So last night when you said you were watching a facial reconstruction from a surgeon in New York, you were actually watching Simba's Pride?"

"Maybe…"

"Well, Kiara Avery is a nice name. But I still think we should keep our options open. I still like Nia."

"Mhm, alright. By the way, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking lasagna since you've taken a liking to Italian."

"Lasagna would be nice. But can you please make sauce from scratch instead of putting in that ready-made stuff? You make great tomato sauce."

"Sure, anything for you," Jackson said with a grin as he folded the last of the clothes.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" April asked.

"I think I've heard that once or twice," Jackson joked, giving her a light peck on the lips. "And I love you too. Even when you're making me spend extra time in the kitchen making sauce for you."

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**A/N: This is my indulgent way of including my favourite name into their story. Anyway, Kiara Avery does sound nice doesn't it? Review and tell me what you imagine April to name her kid!**


	12. He is my Dad!

**This one shot is dedicated to AppleSa for prompting me to write something where people think that Jackson isn't their child's father instead of April. (I'm so sorry this took so long! I really don't have anything to blame except work and procrastination) The end is sort of sucky but I hope you like the rest :P**

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*BEEP!*

_Please pick Nia up from daycare. MB trauma._

Jackson slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked down at the watch April gifted him on his birthday to check the time. It was almost half past five, daycare closed at 6 and this board meeting looked like it still had an hour to go. They were supposed to be discussing the merits of selling t-shirts and hoodies with the hospital's logo in the gift shop. He glanced at Hunt and motioned to his wrist. Hunt nodded in understanding.

"I think that this can be discussed later. The plan is to sell these during the winter and we have time. I have a surgery and I'm sure all of you have work too."

There were mumbles of agreement and Jackson quickly picked up the papers in front of him and slipped out of the room. He quickly walked across the hospital towards the daycare, occasionally glancing towards his watch. He has heard no shortage of stories about the ladies at the daycare and their anger at parents who didn't pick up their children on time.

When he finally reached, he looked around for a girl of around five years with brown curly hair. When he couldn't locate his daughter, he noticed giggling coming from a small group of girls.

_They probably work here_, he thought and went to ask them where Nia was.

"Have you seen the color of his skin?"

"It's so yummy!"

"I know right, but those eyes."

"Those eyes!"

And then came a sighing. Jackson shook his head. This sort of attention he may have tolerated, even liked, when he was younger. But now he was a grown man with a wife and a daughter and wouldn't accept other woman objectifying him. He cleared his throat.

"Excuse me?"

The chattering stopped and they all turned to look at him.

"Yes?"

"I'm looking for Nia," he said crossing his arms to show that he was serious.

"Sure, I'll bring her right over." One of them went to an adjacent room and called for his daughter.

"It's really nice to help a friend like this."

"What?" asked Jackson looking back at the remaining two girls confused.

"You're Dr. Kepner's friend Jackson right? Your name is on the list of people who can pick Nia up."

"What are you talking ab-"

"Daddy!"

"Daddy?"

"Ms Keller this is my father Doctor Jackson Avery."

"What?"

"Nia can't be your daughter! You look nothing alike!"

Then came the silence. Jackson gave the girl who said that a cold look. The coldest look he had probably ever given anyone. What people don't know is that his beautiful eyes could turn to stone when he was mad and if that happened it was never a good sign.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked controlling his anger for the sake of the five year old clutching his pants.

The girl began to answer, but her friend not so subtly stepped on her foot and said quickly, "Nothing, nothing at all. Just sign here and you can take Nia."

Jackson scrawled his signature on the notebook, the same one that was at the bottom of every notice posted in the hospital.

"Thank you, we hope to see you again!"

"Not likely," he said under his breath as he picked up Nia in his arms. He just wanted to hold her close to prove that he was in fact her father.

"Bye Miss Keller! Bye Miss Smith! Bye Miss Gold!" said the toddler in his arms.

The two of them walked to the parking lot and Jackson could see his daughter biting her lip (just like her mother) and he knew that she was trying to form the words to ask him something. He took a few deep breaths and tried to get those girls out of his head. They were only behaving the way a lot of people would have. It was okay.

While he was buckling her up in the back seat of his car she asked the question Jackson was dreading to answer.

"Daddy, why did those people say that you were Mommy's friend and can't be my father?" Tears were forming at the corner of her eyes and if there was something that Jackson couldn't bear it was his daughters tears. He kneeled down next to her and tried to explain the best he could.

"Sweetheart, you are my daughter."

"But then why did Miss Smith say that I can't be?" The tears were running down her face now and Jackson took out a handkerchief from his pocket (his mother instilled in him that every gentleman was supposed to carry a handkerchief in his pocket.)

"Nia, Miss Smith said that because you look more like you Mother."

"But why can't I look like both of you?" she cried.

Jackson chuckled and said, "You do look like both of us. Look at this." He hand out his hand and in the middle of his palm there was a small black mole. Nia had one too, it was the first thing he noticed when he pried open her small fists as a child.

"See, you have the same mark I do. And you have my pointy ears!" He flicked the top of her ears and she let out a watery laugh.

"And you like eating the same burgers I do, and we like the same basketball team."

"The Celtics are the best," said the five year old wisely.

"Yes, they are," replied her father seriously. "All these things just prove you're my daughter. But people only see your hair and you skin color, because those are the first things that people notice."

"Daddy, I don't want hair like yours!" Nia laughed. "Then I wouldn't have any!"

Jackson opened his mouth before realizing that his daughter had just insulted his shaved head.

"Oh, come here you little!" He moved to tickle her and she squirmed in her seat laughing.

"Do you understand now?" asked Jackson, leaning around her to make sure everything was buckled properly.

Nia nodded and said, "I'm a little bit of both of you and some people will only see Mommy's bits but that doesn't matter because I know that I'm your daughter too."

Jackson smiled and ruffled her hair, to which she screamed, "Daddy!"

"You're such a girl," he said shutting the door.

"That's all because of you too!" she said when he started the car. "Grandma Cathy told me…" She continued rambling about how his mother told her about Xs and Ys of making girls and boys. Jackson was glad of how he handled the situation and only laughed out loud when April asked him the next day why the girls at the daycare were apologizing about "yesterday's misunderstanding."

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